Here's How WWI-Centric 'Wonder Woman' Fits Into the DCEU

Diana Prince’s sprint into a war zone catapulted her from the “I thought she was with you” punchline girl with a cool theme song in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to a blockbuster starring hero for the masses. Wonder Woman premiered on Friday, preceded by rave reviews and ranked as the most-anticipated movie of the summer. Next up from DC Entertainment is Justice League, set to premiere in November, starring Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman alongside Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), the Flash (Ezra Miller), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher). And despite Wonder Woman’s deep dive into World War I, it still manages to connect to the 21st Century-centric DC Extended Universe.

Hopefully you understand this post contains spoilers for Wonder Woman. This is your warning.

Before Wonder Woman, last time anyone saw Diana was when she was vowing to work together with Bruce Wayne’s Batman at the end of Batman v Superman to fight a mysterious, impending threat. Superman was dead (wink, wink), and now it was time for Diana and Bruce to assemble a team. A league. A league that stands for justice.

Diana’s first standalone film starts out in the 21st century, with Diana living in Paris and receiving a photo from Bruce, delivered in a characteristically overkill Wayne Industries armored truck. The photo is one DC fans have seen before — Diana in full Wonder Woman garb, somberly standing by a ragtag group of soldiers and, specifically, Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor.

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The famed photo of Wonder Woman standing beside her World War I allies, featured in 'Batman v. Superman' and 'Wonder Woman.'

The photo prompts Diana to fall into a flashback, where she explains that, at some point, she wanted to save the world. Enter: small child Diana, eager to fight and take her rightful place as a warrior.

After a lot of other stuff (like, the entire plot of the movie), we return to Diana in her apartment in Paris. She smiles at the photo before turning to her tablet computer and typing out an email for Bruce: “Thanks for bringing him back to me,” “him” being Steve. And then everyone in the theater cried.

But, emotional catharsis aside, Wonder Woman makes the DCEU global in a way it hasn’t been up until this point. It’s more diverse and widely accessible, opening the Snyderverse up to potential by grounding the DCEU in the past while still promising more for the future. The bookends of Wonder Woman are confirmation for casual fans that the DCEU plans on continuing, for better or for worse.